3 for Thursday: June 29, 2017

Last week, I was very busy, and no matter how much I created task list items and calendar entries to write my “3 for Thursday” post, it just did not happen. Yes, we all fail sometimes. But I have picked myself up, and I’m back in the saddle this week. Don’t ever let failure get you down. This week, I’m focusing on journaling and how you can take steps towards more proactively keeping a journal.

2) Product: Moleskine notebooks — I hang out with creatives quite a bit, and one thing you will notice: they all have some sort of notebook. More like that not, that notebook is a Moleskine. Yes, a Moleskine is a sort of status symbol in the creatives scene, but honestly, they’re great, simple notebooks as well. There are countlessarticleson whyMoleskineisking, but for me, they’re just simple, durable, distinctive and have great paper. And there’s a shape and size for everyone. I actually own 3 different Moleskine journals in different sizes that have different purposes. Don’t get hung up on using a Moleskine, though. Just journal somehow, even if it’s just in a notebook you like. (For example, Michael Hyatt ditched his Moleskine notebook for the Ecosystem brand because every page is perforated.)

3) App: Penzu — Some people would rather go digital in their journaling. You could try simply using your word processor or a note-taking app like Evernote. But some people prefer to use a journaling-specific app. Day One has a huge iOS following, and Journey is one of the top Android journaling apps. Over the years, I’ve personally leaned more toward Penzu due to its compatibility and flexibility. I want to be able to journal on whatever device I’m on, and Penzu has both app- and browser-based options, so you can use it on your phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. It’s feature-packed, and I also feel more secure using Penzu that some of the other digital options. After testing our several journaling apps, Penzu is where I have landed for now in digital journaling.

The Big Idea — Regardless of how you journal, get to it! It doesn’t matter if you do it in handwriting or via a digital method (although some say that handwriting engages your mind more due to its more sensory elements), the idea is to journal to allow your mind to sort, work, plan and document for better awareness, planning, and tracking. Most of us have tried and fallen away from journaling at some point in our lives, and my challenge is to keep going despite the failure. Pick yourself up, dust off the journal and keep going.